December 7, 1779
For the next two days, Lillian spent most of her free time talking to Albert. Though she still yearned for the company of the Hessian, the dark-haired barmaid found herself feeling a little less lonely each time she joined in a conversation with her male friend. One night, Albert came into the tavern for some food and drink, and since there were hardly any other patrons, Lillian took the opportunity to sit down with Albert and asked him questions about what he had done prior to returning to Sleepy Hollow and about the places he had been to. Albert spared no details and told her everything about his time spent in New York City. He also spoke about his neighbors, a kind-hearted, brunette woman who married a religiously-devoted priest. The couple had only one child, a son. Lillian did not bother to ask what the child's name was, for it was of little importance to her. What she did not know, however, was that the couple's young son would grow up to become a constable in twenty years and have his own encounter with the Hessian.
Cassandra kept true to her promise and still refused to talk to Lillian. Mr. Mortner paid this no attention at first, but when Lillian came to join them for dinner at their house for the past two nights, Cassandra excused herself from eating with them and went to bed, leaving the old man confused. His daughter had moments like this in the past whenever she had a dispute with Lillian, but Cassandra never stayed silent for more than a couple of hours. Mr. Mortner had his suspicions as to what the source of the problem was, but hoped that whatever grudge Cassandra held for Lillian would absolve itself, so that the two women could heal their broken friendship.
The next day, a Continental soldier came riding into town, asking the people for Miss Lillian Waise. When Lillian approached him and asked what this was about, the messenger told her that he had been summoned to bring her back to his camp on behalf of Richard Vallingby, who was gravely injured and possibly on the verge of dying. Lillian looked over at Mr. Mortner and Cassandra. The dark-haired maiden could see the envy in her red-headed friend's eyes, but Lillian knew that her travel to the camp would not be a pleasant one.
Lillian was given permission to leave by Mr. Mortner, who asked a friend of his to lend one of his horses so that she could follow him back to the camp. Once they arrived, the soldier dismounted his horse and helped Lillian down from her temporary steed before he showed her into the infirmary tent. The soldier opened the flap and allowed her to step inside, where Lillian was greeted to the sight of a wounded Richard lying down on a cot. She stood before him and took in the sight of his condition. He was bare-chested, except for the bandages wrapped around his torso, showing a small amount of blood that had seeped through. He looked as though he were already dead, but he was only resting. Hearing him moan, Lillian saw Richard slowly open his eyes as he turned his head to his left, seeing that she was there with him. In his fevered state of mind, he thought of Lillian as being nothing more than an illusion, or maybe a dark-haired angel who resembled her, having been summoned to take him away from the land of the living and relieve him of his mortal suffering.
"Lillian?" Richard asked.
"I'm here, Richard", Lillian whispered, sitting down in a chair next to him.
"I was afraid you wouldn't come...I thought-" Richard tried moving himself up into a sitting position, but the pain discouraged him, as the evidence showed on his face.
"Stay still, son", said the soldier, placing a hand on Richard's shoulder, helping him to lie back down.
"Leave us, please", Richard begged him, moaning in discomfort as he was lowered back down onto the cot.
"Very well, then", the soldier agreed, dismissing himself by existing the tent, giving the dying man some privacy with the young woman, who placed her hand over the wounded man's larger one.
"Speak to me, Richard", Lillian urged him, gently. "What happened? Who did this to you? Was it the Hessian?"
Richard took a minute to catch his breath, licking his lips before speaking. "No. I was shot by a Redcoat", he answered. "He would have run me through with his bayonet had a cannonball not blasted his head off."
Lillian swallowed hard, imaging the gruesome sight as if she were there on the battlefield to witness it herself.
Richard attempted to sit up again, groaning painfully while doing so. His large green eyes burned with tears, but he didn't care. He needed to let them flow. "What I speak to you is the truth", he said. "The Hessian was nowhere near me. While the doctor was tending to my wound, I overheard one of our men say the Horseman claimed five heads before a lieutenant shot him and saw him fall off his horse. He thought for sure he was dead, but when the lieutenant tried to get a closer look to make sure he was, the Hessian surprised him by turning over at the last minute and cut his head off. It was a stupid thing to do, but clever on the enemy's part."
"Who was it that bore witness to your claim?" Lillian asked.
"My commander informed me of it", Richard answered. "The soldier who died was his son. Robert knew him better than I did, of course, but now they can both be at peace. Very soon, I shall join with them in Heaven."
Lillian felt a tear roll down her cheek. "Are you really dying?" She asked him, her voice cracking.
Richard didn't answer, but lied back down and closed his eyes, exhaling a breath as he rested his head on the pillow behind him. His chest moved up and down from the effort. His shallow breathing worried Lillian.
Lillian closed her eyes and lowered her head down to hide her face, covering it with her hands. She felt that it was all her fault for Richard dying, that she was somehow responsible for his misfortune.
Richard opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Lillian, reaching his left hand out to take hold of one of hers, pulling it away from her face. Lillian lowered her free hand and looked at him.
"Don't blame yourself for what's happened, Lillian", Richard whispered. "It wasn't your fault. My life is over. I did what I could for my country. I fought and served well. That's all any man could have done."
"But if I hadn't let the Hessian go, none of this would have happened", said Lillian. "Your father already lost one son. He can't lose you next. Dozens of lives could have been saved if I had just killed him myself."
"You couldn't kill anyone if your life depended on it", said Richard. "It's not in you, Lillian. Besides, I know why you didn't. You said you love him. You feel for him what you could never feel for me in two hundred years."
Lillian looked away from him and said to herself, "I was forewarned of this. I should have listened to my father from the beginning."
Richard caught word of what she whispered and asked, "What do you mean?"
Lillian blinked and looked at him again. "You never should have come here, Richard", she said. "You didn't come here to fight, but to rid the sickness of your heart brought onto you by the woman who broke it. You loved her, but she didn't love you back. Am I right?"
"Yes, but...how did you know about Jasmine?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you", Lillian interrupted, not wanting to talk about her powers. The less Richard knew about it, the better. "I see the scars on your arms, and I can tell you tried to kill yourself because of what she did to you. She was unappreciative of your affection for her. You didn't deserve Jasmine, because she was undeserving of you. Believe me when I say your brother didn't approve of me because he was afraid of seeing you get hurt again. You know I'm right about this. If I'm wrong, then tell me otherwise."
Richard nodded. "Yes, it's true", he confessed. "I was weak and tried to commit the most unforgivable of sins. It was foolish of me to do such a thing. I know that now. I wish I'd never done it. Jasmine was not worth it."
Lillian nodded, agreeing with him. She sniffled and wiped the tears from her right cheek, leaving the other one untouched.
"You told me the other day you loved the Hessian", said Richard. "What I can't understand is why. Why did you choose him? How could you side with the enemy?"
"Do you remember the night we first met?" Lillian asked him.
"How could I forget?"
"The three men who were taunting Cassandra were asked to leave, but rather than go back to where they came from, they stayed behind and waited until everyone left. When you and I stepped outside the tavern, one of them came up behind you and knocked you unconscious. I would have screamed for help, but I, too, was silenced. The three of them abducted me and took me into the woods, where they proceeded to rape me."
"What happened?!" Richard asked, sitting up quickly. This was a horrible idea, for he shut his eyes immediately and groaned in pain, wrapping an arm around his torso.
Lillian placed her hands on his chest and eased him back down. "Richard, be still", she begged him. "The Hessian was passing through the woods that same night. He was chasing one of the American soldiers when he heard me screaming and came to my defense and killed those men. He saw that I was hurt and showed me mercy by taking me to a safe place until I recovered. He saved my life, Richard. Ever since that horrible night, I've found it hard to trust almost any man. I know what happened to me was not your fault, but there's a reason why I spared his life the other day. I spared him because he spared me first. That is why I love him."
"I...didn't know", said Richard, sounding amazed.
"I know you think he is wicked, but he is so much more than that", said Lillian. "Indeed, the Hessian is an evil man, but he's not a monster. He's human, very much like you and I. If you wish he hadn't saved me-"
"Don't!" Richard exclaimed, shaking his head. "Don't you ever say that. Not in front of me. I'm terribly sorry for what happened to you, Lillian. Had I known sooner, I wouldn't have insulted you by calling you a bitch."
Lillian attempted to laugh through her tears, managing a weak smile. "I don't blame you for doing so", she said.
Richard tightened his grip on Lillian's hand and said, "If you should ever see him again, tell the Hessian that I am grateful to him. I have no regrets, though I wish it was I who had been the one to save you that night."
Lillian nodded. "I will", she promised.
Richard groaned as he tried to raise his head again. "Tell me the truth, Lillian. Do you really love him?"
"I don't know what I feel for him anymore", Lillian answered. "The Hessian has not told me that he loves me back. Why should I return my love to him if he does not feel anything for me?"
"If he is the one you want, then you should tell him", Richard encouraged. "Something I tried to do for you long ago. Can you forgive a foolish man of his ignorance?"
"There's nothing to forgive, Richard. I'm sorry for every word I've uttered against you. You are a good man, and I shall forever remember you as such."
Richard attempted to smile, but faltered at the last minute and exhaled his final breath, dying peacefully with his eyes open. Lillian decided long ago that when he died, she would not shed any tears for him, but now that he was gone for good, she found herself lying her head down on his chest, crying over Richard Vallingby as though his death was all her fault, but there was no way she could have had a hand in his downfall.
When Lillian returned home, people were staring at her, though she didn't notice. Mr. Mortner came over to help her down off the horse, then went to return the beast to the owner. Lillian didn't hear him speaking to her as she walked over to the tavern, for she was in a daze. Not because she was having a vision, but because she was in a state of shock and grief. She had never seen a man die up close before. The fact that the man who died was someone she knew made it all the worse.
"Well?" Cassandra asked, walking over to confront Lillian. It was the first time she spoke to her since their argument in the Western Woods.
Lillian's eyes looked to the ground, then she turned her head, unable to look at the red-haired woman.
"Speak, goddamn you!" Cassandra demanded.
Lillian lifted her head to show her cold and angered gaze to Cassandra. "He's dead", she said blankly. "He took a bullet and died from his injuries. What else is there you want to know?"
"He loved you, didn't he? Richard was a good man and would have been the perfect husband for you, and yet you scared him away with your rejection. I hope you're happy."
"Spare me your lecture, Cassandra. Richard was many things, but he was not the right man for me. I cared for him, but neither as a friend or a lover. I didn't even know him."
"You don't know the hermit, either", Cassandra reminded her. "Yet I can see in your eyes you harbor lustful feelings for him. If your mother and father were alive, what would they think of this?"
Not wanting to admit the truth or hear about her family, Lillian turned away from Cassandra and started making her way up the stairs to her room above the tavern.
"And don't think I won't tell father about this, because I will", Cassandra called out to Lillian. "Your stay in his house will soon no longer be welcomed, you hear me?!"
Lillian opened the door, slamming it behind her before she walked across the floor to her bed, grabbing the blanket and throwing it off before she threw herself down on the mattress, screaming and crying. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed, and if it weren't for the pillow she buried her face into to muffle her mournful cries, the whole village would have heard her. Only one living soul was aware of her grief, as Simara flew over to land on her mistress's left shoulder. Cawing, the raven flapped her wings as though she were asking what happened. Lillian gave no response, but lifted her head and turned over onto her right side to face the wall, taking several deep breaths of air. Her face was as red as the whites of her eyes. Clutching her father's cross necklace with her left hand, Lillian used her free hand to grab hold of the pillow behind her bed, curling her fingers around the corner as she closed her eyes, feeling her energy fading. Within minutes, she fell asleep.